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1 & 2 Kings

2 Kings 10 - 25

And I will take you, and

you shall reign over all

that your soul desires,

and you shall be king

over Israel. And if you

will listen to all that I

command you, and will

walk in my ways, and do

what is right in my eyes

by keeping my statutes

and my commandments,

as David my servant did,

I will be with you and

will build you a sure

house, as I built for

David, and I will give

Israel to you.

--1 Kings 11:37-38

The Big Picture of 1 & 2 Kings The Book of Kings reached its final form sometime after the exile into

Babylon. The Israelite in bondage under the Babylonians would

certainly struggle over their suffering outside of the land, even

puzzling over the "why?" questions. Why did God allow Israel to fall

to their enemies? Where is YHWH? Why is the temple destroyed?

Structure of 1 & 2 Kings

A United Kingdom: Solomon 1 Kings 1 - 11

A Divided Kingdom 1 Kings 12 - 2 Kings 9

The Fall of the Northern Kingdom: Israel 2 Kings 10 - 17

The Fall of the Southern Kingdom: Judea 2 Kings 18 - 25

1 & 2 Kings serves to explain how a united Israel under King David

and Solomon could become internally divided by her own people and

utterly decimated by her external foes. As YHWH had warned

through Moses and the prophets, his blessing was contingent on

covenant faithfulness on the part of the King and people of Israel.

The glories and the failures of Israel's kings point to the need for the

King of Kings, Jesus.

The Fall of Israel and Judah (2 Kings 10-25) The LORD had promised the kings of the northern kingdom, Israel

that they would be blessed and established. (see 1 Kings 11:37-38)

Yet, beginning with their first king Jeroboam, they gave their worship

to idolatry failed to follow the command of the LORD. Twenty out of

twenty kings "did evil in the sight of the Lord"--the worst being Ahab

(1 Ki. 16:33)

In the Southern Kingdom, there were similar failings in the

monarchy, the worst being Manasseh (2 Ki. 21:9). However, the

southern Kingdom, did have eight out of the twenty kings who sought

to bring reform and renewal to Judah--such as Josiah. (1 Ki. 13:2)

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And the one who

escapes from the sword

of Hazael shall Jehu put

to death, and the one

who escapes from the

sword of Jehu shall

Elisha put to death. Yet I

will leave seven

thousand in Israel, all

the knees that have not

bowed to Baal, and

every mouth that has not

kissed him.

1 Kings 19:17-18

But Jehu was not careful

to walk in the law of the

LORD, the God of

Israel, with all his heart.

He did not turn from the

sins of Jeroboam, which

he made Israel to sin. In

those days the LORD

began to cut off parts of

Israel. Hazael defeated

them throughout the

territory of Israel...

--2 Kings 10:31-32

The Fall of Israel and Samaria (2 Kings 9-17) The height of the corruption of the Northern Kingdom was Ahab with

his worship of Baal and human child sacrifice. The sins of Ahab and

his children would lead to judgment.

The Purge of Israel (9-10) The Lord revealed to Elijah that Jehu would be King over Israel and

become the instrument of judgment on the entire house of Ahab and

the followers of Baal in Israel. (see 1 Kings 15-18) This was a

tremendous purge of the evil and corruption of Israel. What would

be begun by the King of Syria, Hazael, would be finished by the

swords of King Jehu and the prophet Elisha.

Beginning with reigning kings of Israel and Judea, Joram and Ahaziah

(Joram was a son of Ahab, Ahaziah a son-in-law), Jehu assassinated

them. (9:14-29) He captured and executed Jezebel, Ahab's corrupt

wife. (2 Ki. 9:30-37) He slaughtered Ahab's descendants. (2 Ki. 10)

So Jehu struck down all who remained of the

house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and

his close friends and his priests, until he left him

none remaining....And when he came to

Samaria, he struck down all who remained to

Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out,

according to the word of the LORD that he

spoke to Elijah.-- 2 Kings 10:11, 17

The final judgment of Jehu on Ahab's regime was the purge of all of

the Baal worshipers. Using trickery by calling a solemn assembly to

make a "great sacrifice", Jehu coaxed all of the worshipers of Baal

into the "House of Baal"--only they were the great sacrifice! (2 Ki. 18-

27) All of them were put to the sword. The House of Baal was burned

and demolished to the ground. "Thus, Jehu wiped out Baal from

Israel." (2 Ki. 10;28)

Because of the thoroughness of Jehu in fulfilling the word of the

LORD with regard to Ahab and Baal worship, YHWH promised that an

heir of Jehu would remain on the throne for four generations.

However, in spite of Jehu's faithfulness in purging Israel of Baal

worship, he didn't remove all of the idolatry from Israel. (2 Ki. 10:31)

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David's Line is Preserved in Judea (11:1-15:7) With the assassination of King Ahaziah by the arrow of Jehu,

succession to the throne of Judea was left an open question.

Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah purposed out of spite to destroy the

House of David as the House of Ahab had been destroyed. (11:1-3).

Only one son of David's line was protected from her wrath, Joash the

son of Ahaziah.

Under Joash (Jehoash) and the high priest Jehoiada, the southern

Kingdom destroys the altars of Baal in Jerusalem and began a

restoration project on the temple. The priests faltered in their repairs

and Johoash took over supervision of the project himself.

Unfortunately, the troubles of Israel with their enemies came to the

gate of Jerusalem. Jehoash used much of the resources of the Temple

to "buy off" Hazael, the King of Syria from bringing war to Judea.

His son, Amaziah, continued on the trajectory of his father generally

walking in the way of the LORD. However, the reformed projects

always seemed to falter in Judea:

But the high places were not removed; the

people still sacrificed and made offerings on the

high places. --14:4 (cf. 15:4)

The faltering in reforms would be the seeds which would bear fruit in

the downfall of Judea. The kingdom is greatly weakened by the

idolatry and the division of the tribes. Israel and Judea even have yet

another civil war. (14:8-14)

Israel Falls to Sin and Exile (15:8- 17:41) The kings of Israel consistently did evil in the sight of the LORD.

Chapters 15 serves as a summary of the remaining kings of both

Israel and Judea. Exile was coming 2 Kings 15:29:

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-

pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon,

Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor,

Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali,

and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

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In the ninth year of

Hoshea, the king of

Assyria captured

Samaria, and he carried

the Israelites away to

Assyria.... And this

occurred because the

people of Israel had

sinned against the

LORD their God, who

had brought them up out

of the land of Egypt

from under the hand of

Pharaoh king of Egypt,

and had feared other

gods and walked in the

customs of the nations

whom the LORD drove

out before the people of

Israel, and in the

customs that the kings of

Israel had practiced.

--2 Kings 17:6-8

The Exile of Israel and Judah The corruption of Israel and Judah led to YHWH ultimately

withdrawing his protection from Israel in 722 BC and Judea in 586 BC.

The reign of Ahaz over Judah was abominable. His corruption

included the giving of the holy things from the treasury of the House

of the Lord to the Assyrians and the building of a replica altar of the

Assyrian god in the Temple of Jerusalem.

During the reign Hoshea, King of Israel, the king of Assyria invaded

Israel and laid siege to Samaria. (2 Kings 17) 2 Kings 17:7-23 explains

why Israel was punished so severely by exile.

Deportation of Jews by Assyrians31

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deportation_of_Jews_by_Assyria

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Judea's Exile is Delayed Because of the repentance and restoration efforts of the Southern

Kings like Hezekiah and Josiah (2 Ki. 18-23), the patience and mercy

of the LORD held longer. Hezekiah's repentance and prayers delayed

the Assyrian invasion of Jerusalem.

Hezekiah's son Manaasseh's rebellion proved to be the last straw for

Judea. (2 Ki. 21) Because of his sins, YHWH promised to wipe

Jerusalem clean like a dish. (21:13)

Josiah instituted a tremendous reform effort (22-23) as was

prophesied by the prophet Elijah. He even did destroy the high places

where prior reform efforts had faltered!

However, the reign of Josiah's sons proved to be a return to rebellion

and evil. Because of the LORD's wrath against Judea (2 Ki. 24:20),

Jerusalem would fall to King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian

empire in 587 BC. (2 Kings 25)

Many of the people of Israel and Judea were forcibly deported and

enslaved by the invading armies of Assyria and Babylon. Moses had

warned the people of Israel of the threat of exile. Now it was upon

them.

"The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over

you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known.

And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And

you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all

the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.

Deuteronomy 28:36-37